


Learning to Live Again

by ZombieBug



Series: Learning to Live Again [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Detroit Police Department (Detroit: Become Human), Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Inspired by Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, M/M, Post-Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieBug/pseuds/ZombieBug
Summary: Connor and Hank are finally going home to Detroit after training the NYPD Android unit, But Connor feels like something is going to be different when they arrive... He is right.
Relationships: Tina Chen (Detroit: Become Human)/Valerie Morales-Chen, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Learning to Live Again [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132370
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Learning to Live Again

Connor looked quietly out of the window of the hotel that he and Hank had been staying at. New York was a beautiful place in most areas, but he was excited to finally go home to Detroit where he knew all of his friends - and Sumo of course - were waiting for their return. He was about to turn around and continue packing when Hank walked over and joined him at the window.

“You ready to go home, Connor?” Hank asked.

“Absolutely.” Connor replied. “I just need a few more minutes to pack.”

"Better hurry up, if traffic is shit, which it usually is, we are lookin' at a 11 hour drive at least." Hank reminded Connor. 

"Of course." Connor said, turning to face Hank

“Don’t forget that dog toy you bought Sumo,” Hank added.

Connor nodded and turned toward the bed. Since Connor didn’t sleep, they only needed a room with one bed. Whenever Hank was asleep, Connor would sit in the chair that sat beside the bed and go to his headspace, where he would relax, go over the plans for the next seminar they would be conducting for the NYPD, and if he was lucky - Talk with Nines. Connor was still trying to grasp the whole brother concept, but he and Nines definitely had a close bond. Any chance he would get, he’d message Nines and update him on what they’ve been doing and Nines would do the same in return. Recently though, he hadn’t heard anything from Nines. This made Connor a little worried, but he shrugged it off and blamed it on the case that they were working on back home. He knew that Nines and Gavin had only done a very small handful of Android involved cases before, so they probably were very busy. 

Connor began folding the last few articles of clothing on the bed and putting them neatly in his suitcase while Hank grabbed his suitcase and went to load it into his car. Connor then reached and grabbed a bright red hotdog squeaky toy that he thought Sumo would love and stuffed it in the suitcase as well.

“Ok Hank, I am ready to go.” Connor shouted to Hank, who was still outside.

.... There was no response.

“Hank?” Connor shouted again.

… Still nothing.

Connor instantly ran out of the room and down the stairs to find Hank a few feet from his car, muttering to himself as he picked up some shirts that flew out of his now broken suitcase.

“Stupid fuckin' piece of shit suitcase…” Hank said as he continued to try to put everything back into the suitcase.

“Hank, why didn’t you come and get me to help?” Connor asked, startling Hank.  
“Holy shit! Kid... next time, tell somebody you are right behind them. Will ya?” Hank shouted.

“Next time, you should ask for help. Or at least respond if somebody says something to you.” Connor spat back sarcastically.

Hank didn’t argue with that. It was only fair. Connor helped him put everything into the car and they were off. The Traffic was light, so this meant that it was going to take around 9 and a half hours until they got home. Not too bad. Since Connor knew how to drive now, Hank and Connor agreed that they would drive in shifts; Hank drove the first three hours, then Connor would drive for three hours and thirty minutes, then Hank would drive the rest of the way back. This gave Connor plenty of time to try to reach out to Nines and see if everything was ok. As Hank began driving on the interstate, Connor slid back into his seat and relaxed, drifting into sleep mode almost instantly.

____________________________________________________________________________

Connor opened his eyes to see his beautiful zen garden flourishing as always. His garden was very similar to Nines’ garden, but Connor made a few alterations to his after the android revolution. One of these alterations being a sitting area where he could visit a virtual version of Sumo when he wanted to. There was also a virtual Hank that Connor would ask for fatherly advice from. Usually he would be in the house that Connor built to look just like Hank's real house.

Connor took a seat in the sitting area and began to draft a message to Nines. Usually he would just write one up and send it without having to go to his Zen garden, but this time he wanted to make sure he didn't sound paranoid or worried.

[Hello brother, I was wondering if everything is ok at home since I haven't heard from you in a while.]

No, too obvious

[Hey brother, how are you?]

Would that work? I feel it's too nonchalant. 

[Hi brother, how has everything been going?]

I need to stop second-guessing Myself… 

With that, he hesitantly sent the last one he typed out. He was almost positive he wouldn't get an answer since he had tried reaching out numerous times and not gotten a response, but he still waited there. He felt like there was a chance Nines would see it this time. While he was waiting, the virtual Sumo Walked up to him looking to get pets by his friend. 

"Hello Sumo," Connor said. The AI doggo looked up and gave what looked like a puppy smile to Connor. 

"Have you been a good boy? " Connor asked, scratching behind Sumo's ear. 

Sumo let out a confirming bark. Connor smiled and settled in to wait on Nines' reply and pet Sumo. 

… 

At this point, Connor had been waiting on a reply for what felt like an eternity. Even virtual Sumo got tired of sitting there and getting pet and went to do something else. Connor sighed. 

"I guess I will see him when we get back… " Connor said, getting ready to wake up. 

Connor was right about to wake up when he saw something he had never seen before in his Zen garden the entire time he's been alive. Some of the flowers in a part of the garden were withered and dead. Each their own shade of ugly brown surrounded by the green of the rest of the garden. How was this happening? His Zen garden is completely virtual, and can't die unless he deletes all of it. 

(Connor…)

He stared at the decaying plants, confused not only about how they were withering, but maybe it was a sign of Connor being sick or buggy. He tried scanning the dead area, but to no avail. His scanners didn't work. 

(Connor,)

He reached down to touch the plants. The second his hand made contact with the plants, he felt as though he had just been tased. He started heaving deep breaths even though he didn't need to breathe. His chest hurt so badly he felt like he had been shot multiple times. He fell to his knees and started shaking violently. Is this what a panic attack feels like? There were noises filling his head with terror beyond which he had ever felt before. It seemed like with each pulse of his now audible thirium pump it got louder and louder. Connor was in sheer agony. 

(Connor! CONNOR!!!) 

____________________________________________________________________________

Connor gasped as he woke up, LED blaring a bright red. Although all of the overwhelming events that happened in his "Zen" Garden were gone, the feeling lingered. Connor was still shaking. 

"There you are, I've been trying to wake you up for a good minute… You ok son? You're shaking and you look paler than usual. Didn't know androids could get pale…" Hank said. 

Connor took a second to calm down and get a hold of his surroundings. He was back in Hank's car, and they were parked at a rest stop so they could swap out and Connor could begin his driving shift. They had around 6 and a half hours to go until they got home. 

"Son?" Hank said again. This time Connor was calm enough to acknowledge him. 

"Sorry Hank. I am not sure what just happened… I just… I don't know…" Connor said, trying not to cry. He couldn't even begin to describe what just happened in the place where he is supposed to feel safe. He had never felt so scared before, and Hank picked up on that info. 

"Connor, did you have a panic attack?" Hank asked, genuinely concerned. 

"... I don't know," Connor cried. 

Hank grabbed Connor by the shoulder and went to hug him. Connor accepted the hug and began to cry harder. 

"It will be ok Connor, I am right here. Nothing is going to happen to you while I am here." Hank reassured Connor in a calm, caring voice. "I know you are scared, but just breathe. You are alright. I mean, you look like shit, but you are ok."

Connor let out a little laugh at that last part. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Hank added. 

"No…" Connor whispered. 

"Ok. Maybe driving will take your mind off of it. Let's go ahead and swap out so we can go." Hank replied. Connor agreed. 

The entirety of Connor's driving shift was quiet. Connor was too busy focusing on the road and trying not to think about what happened to talk. Hank kept an eye on Connor, but didn't want to stress him out by trying to get more info on what happened. They both just sat and listened to Hank's music and didn't dare say anything about the incident at the rest stop. After Connor's driving shift was over, they pulled over at a restaurant so Hank could run in and order some food. 

"Hey Connor, you want something? This place offers thirium drinks and stuff," Hank asked, trying to make Connor feel better. 

"I think I will be ok, Hank. Thank you." Connor replied, his voice quiet and soft. 

Hank sighed and went inside to order while Connor swapped to the passenger seat. He was thinking about going back to his garden to see what caused the events that happened last time, but he was also afraid it would happen again. But maybe if he didn't touch the plants? Would he be ok then? But what if it just starts where it left off when he woke up? what if it got worse? Is his whole garden going to be consumed by whatever that was? Is he ok? 

Connor decided he needed to get more info on what happened, and that meant going back. As much as he didn't want to feel that way again, he just had to. But first he needed to calm himself down. He needed something to look forward to doing once he was back. Something that he liked doing… Messaging Nines? That could work, if only he'd answer. 

"I'm back Connor. That damn cashier really had a stick up her ass. She said I looked old for a cop. I ain't that fuckin' old!" Hank ranted as he sat in the driver's seat and sat down two bags. One smelled really good, while the other didn't really have a smell. Connor let out a half smile. 

"You are in your 50's, Hank. Most officers retire by now." Connor jokingly remarked. 

"Eh, fuck retirement." Hank said confidently. 

"So what is in the second bag?" Connor asked, almost positive he knew the answer. 

"I may or may not have ordered you a slice of this weird thirium cake. Thought you might like it since it's supposed to taste just like an actual cake." Hank answered. 

"Thank you Hank." Connor said. 

"No problem. So when are you going to tell me about what happened to you that caused that panic attack?" Hank questioned. 

Connor could tell he was seriously concerned, but didn't know how to describe what happened. He looked down, LED showing a thoughtful yellow. 

"Don't worry, you don't gotta answer right away. I just wanna know you are ok." Hank reassured. 

"I am not sure what happened, but I might try doing whatever I did to trigger it again. I need to figure out why it happened." Connor answered nervously. 

Hank could tell Connor didn't want to, but it was in his nature to need to know exactly what is going on so he knows what to do about it. There was no stopping him. 

"You do what you need to, but be careful. You scared the hell out of me last time." Hank replied. 

With that, Connor took a deep breath, leaned back, closed his eyes, and went into sleep mode.

____________________________________________________________________________

When Connor opened his eyes, the garden looked just like it always did. Perfect. Almost perfect. Connor ran over to the spot where he found the dead plants, and to his surprise, it had in fact spread a little. The ugly brown had consumed an entire tree, some bushes, and the many flowers that surrounded them. This was bad. Connor refused to touch them, just to be sure, and went to message Nines again. 

[Brother, I need to talk to you when you have a minute.]

Connor was about to send when he heard a faint "hello" Behind him. He quickly turned on his heel to see Nines right in front of him, smiling. Nines looked different - more relaxed - to Connor. He almost didn’t recognise him.

"I am sorry I haven't messaged in a while, a lot has happened since you guys left." Nines said. 

"How… how are you in my head?" Connor asked. 

"You didn't know that we could visit other Android's headspace to talk to them? It was one of the upgrades we downloaded earlier this year." Nines replied. 

"Oh. I suppose I didn't pay too close attention to what all of the upgrades were. I was just ready to get back to the plethora of cases we needed to solve." Connor explained. 

"Well, now you know." Nines said. "Do you know why it looks like your garden is dying?"

"I wish I did, but I don't. I have no clue and it worries me." Connor admitted. 

“Well, let’s not mess with it just in case. You should go to cyberlife when you return and get advanced diagnostics run on your main systems.” Nines suggested.

“I will right after we stop by the station to let Captain Fowler know we are back and grab some paperwork.” Connor agreed.

Connor gestured for Nines to follow him to the sitting area, where the AI Sumo was waiting eagerly for more pets. As the two androids sat down Nines saw him and happily obliged.

“Speaking of coming to the station, what is your ETA?” Nines asked.

“One hour and 27 minutes from now.” Connor replied.

Perfect. That’s plenty of time for Nines to finish setting up his plan.

“Alright.I should probably go check on Gavin. I am worried that by now he might have started a fight with somebody he doesn’t like.” Nines jokingly said.

“Who does he like?” Connor commented.

Nines wasn’t sure how to respond. He and Gavin had been officially dating for almost two weeks now, but he was worried about how his older brother and his surrogate father would react. He thought they might even stop talking to him. He sat nervously for a second, and then decided it would be better to tell them in person where Gavin could help him out. But since he had to tell his brother something, he kept it vague as possible.

“Connor, I am just going to tell you now… As I mentioned when I first arrived here, some things have changed since you left. Some people have changed since you left. I am one of those people… But anyways, just prepare for things to be different when you get back.” Nines said quietly.

“I understand, Nines. Will I see you at the station?” Connor asked.

“Of course.” Nines replied.

With that Connor gave Nines a hug, they exchanged goodbyes, and in the blink of an eye Nines was gone. Connor went to inspect the dead part of the Zen garden one more time. The area continued to grow slowly, and with the rate it was growing Connor estimated that if he didn’t find out what’s causing this, the entire garden will look like this within a matter of days - 3 to be exact. With this info in mind, Connor sent in a report on what was happening and requested to be checked as soon as they had an opening. After that, he took in one last deep breath and woke up.

____________________________________________________________________________

When he opened his eyes, he was relieved to see familiar streets of Detroit in front of him. He looked over and saw that Hank was probably feeling the same way. He also wondered about what Nines meant by some things and people have changed. Was he hinting towards something? Was something wrong? Whatever it was, they were about to find out. In the meantime, he told Hank about the encounter with Nines and what was said.

"That's odd. He was definitely hinting toward something, and honestly I am scared to find out what that something is." Hank commented.

"Surely it can't be that bad, right?" Connor asked, a little anxious.

"It's the DPD. For all I know, half of the fuckin' station could have just quit or died. Hell, wouldn't be shocked if detective jackass quit." Hank responded, obviously referring to Gavin.

"I guess we are about to find out, there's the station." Connor pointed out.

After parking, Connor and Hank walk into the front door. It was extremely quiet compared to what they were used to, so they both stayed alert. They checked into the front counter and slowly began walking to the main area, where the lights were dimmed suspiciously.

"what the fuck is goin' on?" Hank asked, confused.

The second Hank asked that, a giant hidden crowd screams "surprise!!!" and the lights brightened again to show a bunch of balloons, a giant welcome home banner, and the entirety of the DPD, with all of Connor's friends front and center: Nines and Gavin, Tina and her wife Valerie, Chris, and even Captain Fowler. Hank and Connor were both extremely shocked and kind of touched by this.

"Welcome home, dipshits." Gavin shouts. Of course he does.

"Gav, we talked about this." Nines turns to him and half-whispers. "Anyway, we wanted to throw you guys a surprise party to celebrate your return!"

"welcome back, guys." Fowler said calmly.

"Th-thank you," Hank said, still completely speechless.

"Alright, I brought donuts for everyone, so eat up guys!" Valerie excitedly shouts to the audience.

The party continued as planned by Nines. Everybody is having fun, and Hank and Gavin both are actually not being dicks to each other as they usually were. Connor on the other hand, was a little confused. Gavin looked much different than when he last saw him. He actually looked cleaned up and as though he had slept for a decent amount of time every night. Connor also noticed that he looked happier. That must have been what Nines meant by some people have changed. Connor noticed that Nines looked different too. He was dressed in more casual clothing, and his hair was a little bit messier than it used to be. It looked good on him. Just as Connor was about to go and talk to Chris, Nines grabbed Gavin and called Hank, Chris, Tina, Valerie, Connor over. They all went over to them, and the first thing Hank and Connor noticed was that Gavin had his arm across Nines' waist, and that they both were blushing a little. Tina and the others were giggling as though they already knew what was about to happen. Connor instantly realized what was going on, and grinned. Hank on the other hand, took a second to catch on.

"So Connor, Hank, I thought since technically we are related, I need to let you know something. Connor, I was alluding to this when we talked earlier. I want to announce to you two that-" Nines started

"What the fuck??? YOU TWO ARE FUCKIN' DATING?????" Hank shouted, completely dumbfounded by the news.

"Yeah. We are." Gavin chimed in. "And I've never been happier than now, with him." 

"Awww!" Tina said.

"Believe me Hank, I was shocked too!" Chris chuckled.

Connor went up to them and gave a confirming smile.

"I am so happy for you two. I am glad you found happiness in each other!" Connor supportively said.

"Thanks tin-can, that means a lot." Gavin replied. Nines nodded in agreement.

After that, they all talked and ate donuts (thirium ones for the androids - somehow) for the rest of the day. All of the excitement and partying made Connor completely forget about the Zen garden. for now, it didn't matter. what did matter, was that they were home where they belong. and that is that... FOR NOW.

**Author's Note:**

> you made it to the end! yay!
> 
> \- This is my first ever fanfic, so please no hate!  
> \- I am making a full series out of this, releasing one chapter at a time.  
> \- This is based off of Octopunk Media's Detroit Evolution (What I think would happen after the events of the film)  
> \- In this, I decided to make Hank and Connor have a more father-son relationship. Sorry HanCon shippers,  
> \- The title is also the name of a Garth Brooks song.


End file.
